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CSS NEUSE (Ironclad Gunboat)CSS NEUSE (Ironclad Gunboat) · Photo: Katyrw · CC BY-SA 4.0
B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Kinston

18% of Kinston’s land is conserved: 2,109 acres

0.3 miles of mapped trail cross Kinston. 279 acres are parks and preserves, 14 per 1,000 residents. 58% of residents live within a half mile of a park.

Ahead of 51% of U.S. towns · #102 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it

Conserved land
18%
2,109 acres · of 18.3 sq mi of land
Trails
0.3 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
279 ac
14 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
58%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.6 mi
0.6 mi lanes
Lakes & rivers
1

What kind of outdoors town is Kinston?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Land that stays wild18% of the land is conserved; a typical North Carolina town, 3%.History along the way25 places on the National Register.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Kinston have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Kinston is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns, #102 of 290 in North Carolina. Conserved land holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.

B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Kinston’s overall grade.
Conserved land18% of the land · typical NC town 3% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · NC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land14 acres of park per 1,000 residents (279 acres) · NC 8 · U.S. 13BParks close to home58% of residents within a half mile of a park · NC 51% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 51%
LessMore
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 65%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.

PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →

The map

Conserved land, trails & bike routes

Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.

1234
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk

Pick a walk

Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Caswell Farm Game Land

Nature preserve
63 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Bill Fay Memorial Park

Park
48 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Holloway Park

Park
33 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Barnet Park

Park
30 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 11 parks & preserves
Neuseway Park8 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Directions
Caswell Farm Game Land63 acres
Bill Fay Memorial Park48 acres
Directions
Holloway Park33 acres
Barnet Park30 acres
Neuse/Caswell Historic Park22 acres
Neuse/Caswell State Historic Site20 acres
Directions
Fairfield Park12 acres
Directions
Emma Webb Park8 acres
Neuseway Nature Center5 acres
Directions
Southeast Park3 acres
Who protects it

2,109 conserved acres

18% of Kinston’s land. Who manages Kinston’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

State natural resources35 ac
Town or city24 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits4 ac
Not recorded2,663 ac
State Other or Unknown · 1,717 acLocal Other or Unknown · 753 acLocal Recreation Area · 156 acState Historic or Cultural Area · 46 acUnknown Easement · 35 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 8 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 13 of 22 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Caswell Research Farm
State Other or Unknown
Not recorded816Unknown
City of Kinston Open Space
Local Other or Unknown
Not recorded678Unknown
NC Hazard Mitigation Buyout Property - Kinston
State Other or Unknown
Not recorded535Unknown
Caswell Developmental Center
State Other or Unknown
Not recorded282Closed
Lenoir County Open Space
Local Other or Unknown
Not recorded67Unknown
NC Land and Water Fund Project
State Other or Unknown
Not recorded63Restricted
City of Kinston - Barnet Park
Local Recreation Area
Not recorded57Unknown
CSS Neuse/Gov. Caswell Memorial State Historic Site
State Historic or Cultural Area
Not recorded46Unknown
City of Kinston - Pearson Park
Local Recreation Area
Not recorded30Open
City of Kinston - Northwest Park
Local Recreation Area
Not recorded19Open

5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.

Things to do

6 places to go in Kinston

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Playgrounds in Kinston

5 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.

Trails & water

1 lakes & rivers

Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Neuse River
Biking & sports

0.6 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

0.6 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
Courts & fields
25Tennis
15Baseball
4Pickleball
3Basketball
1Football
1Softball

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

25 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).

History →
Peebles HouseBuilding · listed 1971
About it
Lenoir County CourthouseBuilding · listed 1979
About it
B. W. Canady HouseBuilding · listed 1989
About it
Baptist ParsonageBuilding · listed 1989
About it
Hill-Grainger Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1989
About it
Hotel KinstonBuilding · listed 1989
About it
Kinston Baptist-White Rock Presbyterian ChurchBuilding · listed 1989
About it
Kinston Fire Station-City HallBuilding · listed 1989
About it
Mitchelltown Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1989
About it
Queen-Gordon Streets Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1989
About it
Robert L. Blalock HouseBuilding · listed 1989
About it
Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad Freight DepotBuilding · listed 1989
About it

13 more on the History page.

When to get out

The best walking months in Kinston: April and May

NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)10.010.911.913.014.014.514.313.512.311.210.39.8
High (°F)545865748187908883746557
Rain (in)3.73.33.93.64.25.06.06.46.63.53.43.5

February is the driest month (3.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 6.6 inches fall in September, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Kinston →

Questions about parks and trails in Kinston

How much of Kinston is conserved land?

18% of its land, against a typical 3% for a North Carolina town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.

Are dogs allowed on Kinston’s trails?

Caswell Farm Game Land and Bill Fay Memorial Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Kinston?

0.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.6 of painted or protected lanes.

Is there public land near Kinston?

551 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Kinston or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 279 of them inside the city line.

How much outdoors does Kinston have?

Ahead of 51% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #102 of 290 in North Carolina. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

Trail talk

Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Kinston neighbors.

Town Square →
Share a tip
Sources

Where this page comes from

Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →